hd

massachusetts moderate with shaky credentials has been uneasy about which shade of romney will show up to govern the white house. but those doubts all but evaporated, and i quote . . . here to discuss who is really eric bates, executive editor of "rollingstone" magazine. thanks for joining us. >> thank for having me. >> eliot: mitt romney did in fact -- the morph that destroyed him from moderate sensible creatable intellect to far-right

stooge, how did he done that. >> we decided he would go to the far right, pose as a severe conservative, and then somehow magically shake the etch-a-sketch and come back to center. >> eliot: if he had been smarter and more nimble he would have said you know i'm going to etch-a-sketch, but he stuck to the far right and showed himself at the end of the day to approximate completely spineless. >> all along people have been saying who is the real mitt romney? how will we know what he really stands for? and i think the moment that was cemented into place was when he picked paul ryan. there was a lot of argument for him to pick centerist like pall

leapty. and then gofer nor quest said this choice outlines the future for the next four to eight years. >> eliot: tim's article goes through area of policy to area of policy, when you put it all together, you do step back and say mitt romney became the tea party. >> that's right. he has adopted the agenda fully. the ryan budget has gotten a lot of at attention, but a lot of other items that they have been passing really reveal what the agenda is. restricting women's right to get an abortion even if they are dying or have been raped.

allowing people to carry concealed weapons even if they are drunk. >> eliot: it is shocking when you look at it and it is the todd akin social agenda republican party. even though everybody pretended to recoil in shock when todd akin made his horrific comments they went on to embrace his agenda. what me taste sized against mitt romney was he didn't have the forty tuesday to say no i'm not going there. >> yes. and they tried over and over again, they ran one candidate up

the flag pole after another. is >> eliot: when you look back at bill clinton who we look at as one of the great politicians of the past 30 or 40 years, his sister soldier moment was when he went to the base and said i disagree with you about this. it showed a certain force of character that he would say no. and romney has never done that. >> in a sense you have to do what both clinton and obama did, and to some reagan did as well, which is to push back your base, and while at the same time say i'm just going this for the camera, i'm your map. all of the great politicians know how to do that.

they have to deal with their base in that way. >> eliot: president obama got significant criticism on the first couple of years of his first term on issues such as immigration and lesbian/gay issues as well and then suddenly there when he needed the base to come back he came out in support of same-sex marriage. and that solidified him as yes, once again he is our candidate. >> that's right. >> eliot: there you see him as the nimble politician, and i think that has carried him forward. >> as with bill clinton he is enemies right at the moment of election where you have this hard core opposition as clinton did with newt gingrich. and then people say maybe he'll unleash in the second term. i think people are concerned

with obama as well, who is the real obama. >> eliot: yeah. but we do know that mitt romney is being sunk but his apparently feelty to the far right. and david stockman said this guy is a joker. >> that's right. they look at romney and say this is too far. the right has gone to an extreme that we never would have envisioned or endorsed and the country cannot sustain. this deep of cut to the social net and economic engine will spell chaos. >> eliot: part of the reason for this is there is this huge chasm when the imagery of ronald reagan and the reality of how he governed. the article is titled "who is driving mitt," eric bates, executive editor of

"rollingstone" magazine, thank you for time you tonight. >> thank then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...allstate safe driving bonus check? what is that? so weird, right? my agent, tom, said... [ voice of dennis ] ...only allstate sends you a bonus check for every six months you're accident-free... ...but i'm a woman. maybe it's a misprint. does it look like a misprint? ok. what i was trying... [ voice of dennis ] silence. ♪ ♪ ask an allstate agent about the safe driving bonus check. are you in good hands?

from silver screens... to flat screens... twizzlerize your entertainment everyday with twizzlers the twist you can't resist.

>> eliot: >> eliot: still to come signs of life in the union movement lessons from the chicago teacher's strike. but you heard me say it once or twice, mitt romney is the most awkward politician ever. >> ladies and gentlemen, time for a new segment, this is called mitt romney, that's kind of a joke. watch this. ♪ >> my dad used to tell us that one year they ate nothing but potatoes, that was when they lived in idaho. even later inlife my dad couldn't look a potato in the eye. kind of a joke. >> people are saying i just don't know about this fellow

romney. [ booing ] >> yeah, i agree with you. >> we talked about the boss that might fire you. he is also like your date's dad that you are constantly meeting, and he is awkward, and you are awkward. >> i appreciate you being out here in the warmth like this. i can't get over you guys standing out here in the rain. you are the best. thank you so much. i appreciate you coming back to say hi to me and have me come in the flesh. >> i heard the strains of a beautiful musical number a moment something. the strains of the national anthem. >> he is an elitist and he is out of touch. >> i love ohio i love america. guys. >> there is something about romney that people cannot connect or relate to. >> check it out, gang i had a

little free time and i designed my own campaign pin. >> wow. that's quite a guy, isn't it? that's paul ryan. wait a second, romney rooip, romney, ryan. there we go. all right. that's great. >> oh sweet jesus. >>and now to my point. that is a whole bunch of bunk! the powerful my steal an election but they cannot steal democracy. septic disasters are disgusting and costly, but avoidable. the rid-x septic subscriber program helps prevent backups by sending you monthly doses right to your door so you will never forget to maintain your system. sign up at rid-x.com.

are they contagious? i don't think so. [ male announcer ] contract the rainbow! taste the rainbow!

>> eliot: in a climate worker rights have been under attack

the teacher's strike resulted in significant gains for teachers and the educational reforms they support. in president of the american federation of teachers, the chicago teachers' national union, wrote and i quote . . . weingarten, the president of the american federation of teachers, the chicago teachers' national union. randi, thank for joining us. >> it's always great to be with you, eliot. >> eliot: thank you. you did reform late the education conversation with the strike. explain what you wanted to do and what you think you accomplished? >> no one wants a strike, and a strike is to be avoided virtually at all no one goes into a strike willingly. but what happened in chicago was

there has been 15 years of closing schools and teaching to the test as opposed to teaching children, so parents and the educators, together -- that's why parents supported the strike by a two to three to one basis, talked about how we need the tools for teachers, and resources for kids, so we make every single school in chicago a school where parents want to send their kids and educators want to work. a school where kids actually get prepared for the world that they are about to face rather than being a test score. >> eliot: of the last ten or 15 years there have been a lot of good ideas, but throughout this one of the very unfortunate results is the teacher's union has been portrayed as against reform. when i was in government, you

were running the union here in new york state, and explain what you meant in terms of how school time should be used. >> also, and thank you for that eliot, because you have been one of the most amazing public service servants we have had for decades. the bottom line is when a teacher's union steps up and says this is what teacher's need to help kids. that should be respected not vilified. we all have to step up and do more, which is what our union has been trying to do. what we meant by a better day was instead of simply having more time, we need to make sure that time is useful for kids. kids don't have art and music, or physical education these days. those are the things that kids need. and secondly, in places like chicago, new york city lots of

other places whether it's rural, poor, or urban poor, we need to make sure that kids have libraries, social workers, that we meet kids where they are, and deal with all of their emotional needs, not just their instructional needs if we really want to help all childrening succeed. and that's what we meant by a better day. >> eliot: one of the statistics in your op-ed that was shocking to me, 87% of the kids in the chicago school system live in poverty. that suggests to me -- not only enormous difficulties because these are children who don't get nutrition and have other social issues they need to deal with. that is an enormous problem to overcome from the very get-go. so that speaks to the fact that you a more holistic

approach. >> at the end of the day, the real big problem is there is a simplistic notion that individual teachers can do it all, and they don't even listen to what we say we need for us to do our job. we need to focus on instruction and the needs of the children. educate the whole child. that is not an excuse. it is finding ways to make sure we mitigate poverty and we have done it in other places. in cincinnati we have wrap around services around schools that help educate the whole child and make sure kids are taken care of after school, to help make sure kids have a good nourished meal, that they have health care, and that is one of the things that people raised in

chicago. conditioning a lot. that's to ensure that in schools a third of which start in chicago in the summer that they are not sweltering so we are actually able to help kids learn, rather than see kids faint. >> eliot: one of the other interesting facts in a david brooks column today which sounds remarkably similar to you, three-quarters of the kids who graduated from the kip academy which is viewed as one of the great charter schools out there three quarters of those kids did not make it through college, and his point was they did not have the emotional foundation as opposed to the sorts of aspects of education you are talking about. >> look at the end of the day, we have to educate the whole child. education is hard work, and it's not always linear. so that's part of the reason why

teachers keep saying why are you demonizing us for doing the work to make a difference in the lives of kids. we all know we need to step up. that's why we're focused on making sure teachers who are good can be valued and if somebody can't teach they shouldn't be in the profession. but we have to focus on all of kids needs. >> eliot: you and i did not always agree when i was in government, but one thing i always understood was that you and your union wanted reform that was meaningful that was going to get a better education for the kids. randi weingarten, the president of the american federation of teachers, the chicago teachers' national union, thanks for joining us tonight, and keep fighting hard for what

we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership.

fruit just got cooler. fruit on one side, cool on the other. new ice breakers duo. a fruity, cool way to break the ice.

>> eliot: we see the same thing

every four years, as we head to the presidential side tries to lower expectations for their candidate. let's stop with the games. that's next on my view. and then in "the war room," jennifer is going to dive deep into the reality deniers also (vo) what is said here could decide the election. current tv presents coverage of the presidential debate. with unrivaled analysis and commentary. >> you're going to hear that used as a major talking point. (vo) the only network with real-time reaction straight from the campaigns and from viewers like you. >>now that's politically direct.

>> eliot: it's so predictable as the presidential debates approach, a spokesperson starts down playing how his candidate will do, hoping that reports will be that barack obama or mitt romney did better than expected. it has nothing to do with who is really scoring more points and it doesn't fool anyone. we have all seen this kind of public relations stunt before no one is buying it. both candidates are smart and articulate, and skilled at this kind of debate, both campaigns and their candidates should be focusing on the serious questions that need to be answered. here are a few, for mitt romney governor you have attacked the individual mandate requirement in the president's health care plan, but approved it for massachusetts, and you, newt

gingrich, and the heritage foundation argued it was the key to sound health care economics until barack obama adopted explain why the individual mandate is no longer essential to health care economics. second question, put aside the language about foreign policy and the rhetoric about not apologizing, name who things you would do differently about iran and russia. and now for president obama the growth of our economy was downgraded to 1.#% rise in the gross domestic product. and in 2013 you will face the same divided congress as before. what will you do with no clear engine of growth out there. a second question by the president, every report by the financial crisis has been critical of your administration for not dealing with the mortgage crisis as part of a

bigger resolution than the banks. what are you going to do to reboot conditions for homeowners who are still underwater. so never mind expectations. we shouldn't judge the debates now to my point. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy. nah, he's probably got... [ dennis' voice ] allstate. they can bundle all your policies together. lot of paperwork. actually... [ dennis' voice ] an allstate agent can help do the switching and paperwork for you. well, it probably costs a lot.

[ dennis' voice ] allstate can save you up to 30% more when you bundle. well, his dog's stupid. [ dennis' voice ] poodles are one of the world's smartest breeds. ♪ ♪ bundle and save with an allstate agent. are you in good hands? i just want to give her everything. [ whistles ] three words dad, e-trade financial consultants. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. wa-- wa-- wait a minute; bobby? bobby! what are you doing man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice

for your family at e-trade.

>> eliot: it's desperate times for mitt romney, but there's still one thing that can help him win the election not the women' vote, or latino ohio or florida. the one thing mitt has left. prayer. according to the email and i quote . . . it's not only mormons who are coming into mitt's corner texas pastor, rick scarborough asked for fasting and prayer. >> all around us there is corruption, deceit and attacks on religious liberty. we're asking for a commitment to 40 days of prayer fasting, and

action to save america. >> eliot: it wasn't mention romney by name steve colbert realizes what all about. >> this will help romney win over undecided voters, especially the most undecided of all, god. >> eliot: joining us now is political satirist and host john fugelsang, thanks for being here. >> nice to be here. >> eliot: is this what it has come for. >> it was the secular humanist who trashed our economy, you know that governor. >> eliot: yes. >> he was the same pastor in texas that ran that empty stadium event with rick perry

last year. i prayed that nobody would show up at that event, and it worked. michelle obama tells you to eating habits she is criticized, but this guy is fine telling people to fast. >> eliot: what explains it, then in do think it is going to work? what is the game here? -- why not just kind of brush the whole thing aside, and say okay this didn't work out so well. >> it's about tribalism and who's side has the power, and they would rather have the guy they hate in power who will be a one-term foot rest but have the other guy on the power.

it's not really about ideology it's about who has got the ball. >> eliot: that's exactly right. you cannot appease your enemy. >> yes, and the romney folks all saying the polls are weren't saying this when 75% of the republicans were against mitt romney in the primary, but they are now. >> eliot: he is starting to talk about his own record embracing the thing that most people said worked when he was governor which was his own health care bill. >> you know mitt romney is in trouble when he is taughting the positive things he did for people. i think he should have done it all along. he had this wedge issue and all he has to do is fall back on state's rights. all he had to do was say yes, the same program barack obama had. but it's about what states want

not a nationwide mandate. if he had done that the gop would have respected him. >> eliot: he never showed that he had the force of character to stand up to anybody, and as a weak, ameba-like, spineless, and that's what turned the public against him. it is premature to do an autopsy, but this thing is not over. >> yes, it is. >> eliot: let's talk about todd akin. this guy keeps -- what is going on in missouri? >> he gets his butt whipped by a girl so he calls her unlady like. i'm rooting for todd akin as a comedian, and the gop is not angry at what he believes. they are angry that he actually said it. >> eliot: their national

platform embraced every piece of his social agenda, so it was the language he used. >> the missouri voting body has a way of shutting that down. and we hope they do. >> eliot: next week you are starting right here on network. what is it, when is it? i want to make sure it's on my tivo. >> the daily show will start later this fall. we're going to do a weekly show starting this friday. it will be airing every friday until we launch the daily show later in the fall. >> eliot: excellent and you are going to be in seattle. >> yes i'm in seattle with the stephanie miller sexy liberal comedy tour, and then i'll be in madison, wisconsin with hal

sparks. >> eliot: all right. get your tickets immediately. political satireist, thanks as always. >> thank you. >> eliot: have a [♪ theme music ♪] >> jennifer: i'm jennifer grandholm and you are in "the war room." if you are a right-wing republican and your world is imploding around you, accept reality? just deny it. the polls don't look good for mitt romney. down in poll after poll after poll, but don't get down mitt. >> we know that polls are just a reflection of statistics that whiches what people are thinking in reality. and reality